WASaBubbleButt

Congratulations, you'll do so well with a sleeve. It's easier than banding. You'll see! Congrats to you!

I can drink a bottle of water in a few minutes. It's slower going than before surgery but totally doable. No drinking and eating together for sleeves.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! That's fantastic! 5/1... won't you be there when OregonDaisy is there? I can't remember exactly what day she's getting sleeved, I think the 29th! Congrats to both of you!

Yes, absolutely! Not sure why but it happens to a great many of us however, it is short lived.

Sounds like me before I had the band removed. In my case it was band intolerance. Some people have a little more restriction if they are the stressed, tired, TOM, time of day, etc. For me any little thing and I was obstructed with an unfilled band. I couldn't take it anymore and had the stupid thing removed. If it is band intolerance surgical repositioning isn't going to do any good, nor will a new band help. Also, stats just came out of a meeting recently showing that surgical repositioning of a band means you have a 70% chance of a slip within the first five years.

Well, when I tell people about Rod's past he stomps his little feeties and calls my doctor accusing me of being a patient coordinator and then slams my doc. My doc has nothing to do with my posting. I have posted just about everything I know about every popular doc in MX. I tell who the good and who the bad are. If I was working for my doctor why would I tell who all the good sleeve surgeons are? Rod might as well call and whine to my dentist, my eye doctor, my GP. It would serve the same purpose. They have as much to do with my posting as my WLS doc does. If it was a band... it's not as big of a deal. If a doc blows it on a band you can typically remove the band and everything is okay. If the doc blows the sleeve you can die. For that reason we all have to go to the better surgeons for sleeves. Some doctors depend on people shopping by price and those people get what they paid for. Others depend on patients researching and they want people researching by skill and experience. It's up to each of us to decide what it is we are looking for.

He just has a long history and he is not anyone I would ever go to.

Not one of my picks for as surgeon.

In the beginning you will miss food, no way around it. You may even mourn food, it's okay. With time you accept that this is the way it is and you move on with your life. You have to be ready to change your entire lifestyle, the way you view food, the way you think about food, and you have to do a lot of head work. Will you do the aftercare necessary to maintain your band? If not, don't bother. If you don't maintain your band you will regain anything you lost. You must do this for the rest of your life. If you aren't going to maintain your band for the rest of your life consider a sleeve if restrictive procedures are all you want. You have to do what is right for you.

Actually it can be both. When doctors estimate your weight loss it is EWL should be "X" pounds. With the band EWL is about half excess. With the other procedures EWL is higher.

Estimated Weight Loss. ;o)

Just because someone went to a seminar and joined an organization does not mean they are board certified. Dr. Huacuz has a very long list of infections and such and nothing is ever his fault. Not the misplaced bands, leaky staple lines, lacerated livers, necrotic intestines, or the many infections. But... you have to go to the one you want. Personally, I'd rather have someone trained in that field but I'm silly that way. ;o)

It depends on if your ins co covers the sleeve. If they do you can have surgery by any of their contracted doctors and covered procedures.

What is the difference (meaning, what does it feel like) between a band stoma and a bypass stoma?

There is no reason to go through an agency, it just puts you one further step away from the doctor. This is exactly the time you want to be working with the MD office and NOT an agency. If they are not responsive to you before surgery how will they be after? An agency just costs more money, it does absolutely nothing beneficial for you.

Is that the person you told me about? When is she getting her sleeve?

CPT Code 43843

????? Are you aware that he is not a plastic surgeon but a general surgeon? That's kinda like going to your podiatrist for a nose job. Be careful here. A certified plastics person would be much safer, this is your face!

There are unique and bizarre things that can happen with any pregnancy but she stands a much better chance of getting pregnant and carrying to term if she loses weight first. There are a million little things that can happen, but to not have WLS first cuts her chances of ever getting preggers and having a family if that is what she wants.

In a minority of people the sleeve can cause reflux. If you already have reflux it's a horror after being sleeved if the reflux wasn't caused by a hiatal hernia. I know there are more details on that but I'm not sure what it is, I'll dig around and find out.

It's not a problem. My doc says to just wait until a year after losing weight. She may have to add an extra meal daily but it's totally doable.

A couple of times I have seen people with sleeves excluded win an appeal but to be honest, it isn't very often and it's a long drawn out process. Point being, start now. I chew better than before WLS but a LOT less than with a band. With banding you have to chew to a paste. With a sleeve you chew like a normal person. I've never been stuck and the times I've vomited were due to a learning curve with the sleeve. Little things are different. I think I have vomited 4 times in 10 months. That's a big difference from 3x daily with a band.

Nope, not that I am aware of.

Oh Susan! That's not good! I'm so sorry to hear that. Keep us updated. Are you feeling better now?

One point I did not make clear and I regretted it as soon as I hit send (although this is not necessarily responding to your comment but just something I should have qualified) is that I am NOT a fan of revision. I'm a fan of picking the right surgery type for you the first time around. But if losing weight would get you to a healthier place where you could eventually afford a sleeve if ins would not pay for it then banding could afford you weight loss and IF you suffer complications then revise to what you actually want? If you get bypassed then that is your surgery forever. There are a handful of surgeons that can take down the RNY and do DS but it's not a promise that you would be one of those people. If you get a band you can revise to anything you want if the need arises. I view bypass as a necessary evil like chemotherapy. I hate chemo but in some people they have to have it. I hate malabsorption but some people have to have it. I consider myself more than lucky that I'm good to go with restrictive techniques alone.